Wood is wood?

Yes, but it’s not that simple. Each tree species (神类) grows in a certain way, and that affects (影响) the way its wood looks and performs. Foresters divide trees into two kinds: hardwood and softwood species.

Hardwood trees such as oaks (橡树) and maples (枫树 ) have wood with very short fibers. Paper made from these species is weaker than that made from softwood, but its surface is smoother, and therefore better to write and print on.

Softwood trees such as pines and spruces have wood with long fibers, and paper made from this type of woods is much stronger. This kind of paper is ideal for making products like shipping containers that require great strength. But the surface is rougher, and that’s not as good for writing, printing and many other uses.

Happily we can blend fibers from hardwood and softwood into a single paper, getting just the combination of strength, whiteness, writing surface and other characteristics that we want.

And that’s just what we do! Most of the paper you see today is made from both hardwoods and softwoods, a special blend for each purpose.

We make newsprint(新闻纸)to be opaque(不透明) —so you only see the newspaper's comics (连环画), not the stock market report on the other side!

We make grocery bag paper strong, tissue (纸巾) soft, fine writing paper smooth. Even within the same sort, there’s quite a range. Among printing papers, for example, compare the thin sheets of a Bible to the thick, tough pages of a kid’s picture book.

1. Which of the following are trees?

    A. Pines, oaks, fibers and maples.

    B. hardwood, oaks and maples.

    C. Pines and softwood

    D. Maples and oaks.

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

    A. Paper made from spruces is good to write on.

    B. Paper made from oaks is weaker, with smoother surface.

    C. Shopping bags are usually made of the paper from softwood trees, with short fibers.

    D. It is easy for us to make paper from both kinds of trees.

3. The underlined word “blend” perhaps means________.

    A. change 　　　　    B. separate     C. mix 　　　　　　　　 D. divide

4. The sentence “We make newsprint to be opaque” means_________.

    A. We make newsprint hard to see through.

    B. We make newsprint different from other printing papers.

    C. We make newspaper the way easy to understand.

    D. We make newsprint easy to read.

5. What haven’t we learned from the passage?

    A. Writing paper, as well as printing paper, is divided into many kinds.

    B. We can get a kind of paper made from both hardwood and softwood.

    C. According to the wood, we can divide trees into two kinds.

D. Today we use paper in many ways.

The world’s oldest man, 112-year-old Antonio Todde died on the Italian island of Sardinia. Todde made it into the Guinness Book of Records when he turned 112 last year and wore his crown of “The Oldest Living Man on Earth” with pride and a sense of humor.

    Born in a tiny mountain village in 1889, the same year work on the Eiffel Tower was completed and baby Adolf Hitler took his first breath, Todde seldom left the village. He lived in the some house with his wife of 78 years, Maria Antonia, all his life.

He witnessed (见证) the two World Wars, a technological revolution and saw the world’s population quadruple (四倍) but was untroubled by the passing of the years.

“His life was very simple but those 100 years, he lived them to the full.” said Mariolina, recalling how he liked to play cards with his friends and go for long walks.

Todde’s life and that of his fellow islanders is the focus of a scientific study.

A remarkable number of Sardinia’s 1.6 million people live through a century. Some 135 people per million live to see their 100th birthday.

Todde’s own family seems a case in point—his two daughters are 78 and 8l separately and his sister is 98.

The answer to the often-posed question of just how he managed it was simple for Antonio.

“Just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day,” he was quoted (引证)as saying when he celebrated his 112th birthday last year.

“You take one day after the other, you just go on.”

1. Antonio Todde made it into the Guinness book of Records, because________.

    A. he witnessed the two world Wars    B. he was the oldest man in the world

    C. he had a sense of humor 　　    　　D. he was the focus of a scientific study

2. The underlined word “he” in the passage refers to________ .

    A. Maria Antonia    B. Mariolina   　　   C. Adolf Hitler　　  D. Antonio Todde

3. From the passage we know that________.

    A. Todde acted as a soldier in the two World Wars

    B. Todde’s life was greatly affected by the two world Wars

    C. the Eiffel Tower was completed in the year 1889

    D. living in the mountain is necessary for a man to live long

4. Todde’s secret of becoming the world’s oldest man is that________ .

    A. he did nothing but drink a glass of red wine every day

    B. he lived a life in his own way

    C. he was rich enough to care nothing but play

    D. the land and water were good to him

5. The best title for the passage is________ .

    A. World’s oldest man died 　　　　　　    B. How to live long just as the old man did

C. The secrets of living long    　　　　 D. The oldest man’s love

Football is the most popular game in England: one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this.

One of the most surprising thing about football in England to a stranger is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He has photos of them and knows the results of a large number of matches. He will tell you proudly who he expects will win the game，and his opinion is usually right.

Most schools in England take football seriously—much more seriously than all the other European schools，where lessons are most the important and games are left for private arrangements. In England，It is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boys mind with facts in classroom, education also means character training；and one of the best ways of training character a is by means of games, especially team games，where the boy has to learn work with others for his team instead of working selfishly for himself alone. The school therefore arranges games and matches for its pupils. Football is a good team game. It is good exercise for the body. It needs skills and a quick brain and it is cheap. As a result, it is the school favorite game in winter.

(　)1. The main idea of paragraph is________ .

    A. one must often go to a football match by law

    B. football is the most popular game in England

    C. many children like to play football

    D. many people are always shouting for their favorite football teams

(　)2. Paragraph 2 tells us that________a good knowledge of the football game.

    A. none of the English people has

    B. some of the English people have

    C. almost everyone in England has

    D. almost no one in England has

(　)3. Paragraph 3 is about “________” .

    A. No school in England pays attention to football

    B. Most schools in Europe take football seriously

    C. England pays great attention to football

    D. Football is a favorite game in winter

(　) 4. According to the article，the opinion given by an English child about a football game is________.

A. useless　　　　　　  B. funny　　　　　　 　　   C. wrong 　　　　　　  D. valuable

(　) 5. In England people believe that education means________.

A. filling a child’s mind with facts in a classroom

    B. training a child’s character

    C. making a child do all kinds of things

D. both A and B

Some English words are made up of the same part and have different beginnings or different endings, such as import, export, repot and transport. All these words, you can see, have the same root “port” , which comes from the Latin word, meaning “to carry”  or “to move” from one place to another. And according to the bit at the beginning—which we call the prefix (前缀)—the meaning changes: “im” means “in” , so the word “import”  means “to carry in” , or “to bring into a country” ; “ex” means “out of” ,so the word “export” means “to carry out of a country” ; “re” means “back”, so the word “report” means “to tell somebody, to bring back information to somebody” ; “trans”  means “across” , so “transport”  means “to carry from one place to another” .

Let’s look at the following words: supporter, reporter, importer and exporter. You can see that in this case these words are nouns which are made up of the verbs plus the suffix (后缀 ) “er” , thus meaning a person who completes the “verb” . So supporter means somebody who supports something. A reporter is somebody who reports something. Importer is somebody who imports something and exporter is somebody who exports something, and so on.

(　) 1. “Some English Words are made up of the same part....”In the sentence “part” means________.

    A. different beginnings and different endings

B. the same part which has several meanings

C. the root of a word.

D. the same root which has different meanings

(　) 2. Which of the following is not true?

A. Besides “port”, most English words have the same root which comes from the Latin word.

    B. “Port” is the root forming some English words.

C. The root “port” means “to carry”.

D. “Port” can mean “to move” from one place to another.

(　) 3. By adding a prefix or a suffix to a root, we can get a word which has________.

A. the meaning of a Latin word

    B. a different meaning

    C. the meaning of “in” or “out”

D. a lot of meanings

(　) 4. We can get a noun________.

A. just by adding “er” to a verb

B. by changing a prefix

  C. only by adding “er” to a root

D. by adding a suffix to a verb

(　) 5. According to the passage, if we talk about a repairman, you may guess/ know that he must be________.

A. somebody who regained health

    B. a person who can repair something

    C. somebody who has good health

    D. a person who can do only simple things

Now is the best time for Hong Kong shopping lovers, as most shops and markets are having their seasonal sales. With the same amount of the money, you can find different kinds of foods in this city. Women, young and old, rarely resist the attraction of this shopping paradise(乐园，天堂) at this time of year. Lovers will surely have an exciting Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Time Square or in the western styled bars. Spending your holiday in Hong Kong will be easy too, as several package tours are available from GZL Travel Service, with four-day tours for less than 15 000 yuan.

Tour package 1(3, 200 yuan):a four-day-tour including three nights' accommodation(膳宿供应), scenic helicopter flight, night ferry(渡船) tour of Victoria Harbor and shuttle bus(公共汽车) to the Peak to view the city at night.

Tour package 2(1 880 yuan): a four-day-shopping-tour including three nights’accommodation, tours to Golden Beach and the Vexwork Museum, shuttle bus to the Peak and shopping opportunities.

Tour package 3(1 480 yuan): a four-day-DIY-tour including three nights’accommodation in a four-star hotel and total freedom to do what you want, when you want.

1. This advertisement is given by__________.

A. a shopping center　　　　

B. a Travel Service Company

C. a hotel 　　　　 

D. Hong Kong government

2. If you want to decide by yourself you’d better choose Tour package__________.

A. 1　　  　　　　　　　　   B. 2　　  　　　　　　　　   C. 3　　  　　　　　　　　   D. both 2 and 3

3. According to the text, if you want to visit the Victoria harbor at night with the tour guide, you can choose Tour Package__________.

A. 1　　  　　　　　　　　   B. 2　　  　　　　　　　　   C. 3　　  　　　　　　　　   D. 1 and 2

Archimedes was a famous Greek mathematician and scientist. He was born around 287 B. C. and he died in 212 B. C.

Archimedes was most known for one specific idea that he came up with. “Archimedes’s Principle（定律）”states that a solid object which is immersed in a liquid is pushed up by a force which is equal to the weight of the water that the object moves. For example, if you put a piece of wood and a piece of gold of the same size in water, only the wood will float. Both the wood and gold move the same amount of water, but the wood weighs less than the water, while the gold weighs more.

It is believed the Archimedes discovered this principle when the king of Syracuse asked him to solve a problem. The king wanted to know whether his crown（王冠）was pure gold or a mixture of gold and silver. The king, of course, didn’t want to melt his crown to find out. The idea came to Archimedes as he lowered himself into his bath. He noticed how the water spilled out of his tub. He decided to use the same idea for the crown. He knew that a gold crown immersed in water would weigh more than one made of silver. The experiment was done and the goldsmith（金匠）was found guilty（有罪的）of trying to cheat the king.

1. A good title for this section is__________.

A. Archimedes　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. Archimedes Principle

C. A Gold and Silver Crown　　　　 　　　　　　   D. The King of Syracuse

2. The word “immersed” in the second paragraph means__________.

A. raised　　  　　　　    B. lifted　　  　　　　　　  C. underwater　　      D. rose

3. From this section we may conclude（推断）that the king's crown__________.

A. moved more water than pure gold of the same weight

B. moved less water than pure gold of the same weight

C. moved more water than pure gold of the same size

D. moved less water than pure gold of the same size

4. The following sentences tell what happened many years ago. Which is the right order of the events（事件）?

a. Archimedes took a bath.

b. Archimedes discovered his principle.

c. The king of Syracuse asked him to solve a problem.

d. Archimedes did the experiment on the crown.

A. b c a d　　  　　　　   B. c a b d　　  　　　　   C. c a d b　　  　　　　   D. b c d a

Richard Gray was a famous explorer(勘探者). He was also a millionaire. He had visited every country in the world. He had crossed Antarctica, flown across the Atlantic by balloon, and climbed Mount Everest. Last year he decided to walk across Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth. He walked for days over the hot desert sand. One night he found the camp(宿营地)where he had been the night before. Gray had walked in a circle. He was lost.

Two days later he had drunk all his water. He couldn’t walk. He crawled to the top of a sand dune(沙丘), and there he saw a man. The man was wearing smart, clean trousers, a white shirt and a tie. Gray crawled over to him.

“Water…water…” he said.

“I’m terribly sorry, old boy, ”replied the man，“but I haven’t got any water with me. ”

“Help me!” shouted Gray, “I’m a rich man…a millionaire…I’ll give you anything.”

“That’s very nice of you, old boy,” said the man. “Look, I can’t give you any water, but would you like to buy my tie?”

“ A tie? Of course not!” screamed Gray, and crawled away. He crawled slowly up the next sand dune. His mouth was full of sand. His lips were cracked(破裂)and dry. He couldn’t breathe. He reached the top of the dune and there he saw a huge good hotel. Girls were swimming in the large swimming pool. Beautiful fountains were all around the hotel.

“Is it a mirage(幻景）？”he thought. “Am I dying?” He stood up and staggered(蹒跚)down the dune.

A waiter in a shining white uniform came out of the door.

“Water…water…a bath! Food!” screamed Gray.

“I’m sorry, you can’t come into this hotel,” said the waiter.

“ Why not? I’ve got plenty of money…I’m a millionaire. ”

“Ah,” replied the waiter, “but you aren’t wearing a tie!”

1. The famous explorer________________.

A. had crossed Antarctica and the Atlantic by balloon

B. had traveled all over the world

C. had walked across Death Valley

D. had ever been a millionaire

2. Death Valley is________________.

A. a valley where people may die from loss of water

B. a dead place where people dare not go

C. a terribly hot valley where people may die of heat

D. a place’s name

3. Two days later Richard Gray________________.

A. was lost in a circle　　　　　　　　 

B. was drunk

C. began to search for water in the desert　　 

D. crawled to the top of a dune to see a man

4. Gray saw________________from the top of the next dune.

A. a large good hotel　　　　　　　　    　　　　　　　　　　

B. many swimming girls

C. a lot of drinking water　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　   

D. a beautiful mirage

5. At last Richard Gray________________.

A. got some water to drink　　　　   　　　　　　　　　　

B. was not permitted to enter the hotel

C. was very sorry for the waiter   　　　　　　　　　　

D. was dying

How to protect children Web fans(网迷)from unsuitable material on-line(联网，上网)while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the USA.

For some parents the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as hazards(危险). With good guides, some education and few precautions(预防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated(航行). “Kids have to be on-line. If we tell our kids they can’t have access to the Internet we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.

Most kids have started to learn to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites(网站), and they can also locate(查找……的地点）places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. But the most popular thing that was to limit access would be to use what is known as a “content screener(过滤器)”. But this can’t be wholly reliable(可靠的), and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what’s OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing(浏览)the Internet.

A few other tips.

—Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.

—Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make on-line.

—Tell your child not to give on-line strangers personal information, especially details(详细资料)like address and phone number.

—And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on-line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet them unless you go along.

1. The passage is mainly about the subject of________________.

A. American children’s going on-line　　　　    　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　 

B. Internet in America

C. Appreciating Internet　　　　  　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　 

D. Opposing Internet

2. The best way to protect children from improper materials is________________.

A. to install a content screener on the computer

B. to buy some search engines for the children

C. to be nearby when they are surfing the Internet

D. to talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong

3. Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A. Surfing the Internet is the best method of educating children.

B. Children’s not having access to Internet may have effect on their progress.

C. Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having access to Internet.

D. Search engines can help children to select materials fit for them.

4. The passage tells most about________________.

A. software    B. good guides  C. precautions    D. education

5. According to the passage, we can infer that________________.

A. software fit for children want programming 

B. a child who is on-line is in danger

C. Internet is a jungle full of danger　　　　    　　  

D. Internet contains lots of harmful sites

Let us say there is something you don’t know how to do.

In the past if you were determined to learn, you might have called a friend or relative, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term. But now a host of websites are springing up to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of.

In one sense,  these “how-to” sites represent(表明) a part of the growing world of online learning. This tradition found one of its earliest forms in the FAQs—or Frequently Asked Questions files— that began on Usenet,  the Internet’ s global discussion group. These FAQs,  many of which still circulate (go round continuously),  took a specific subject—and explained it to complete novices.

But “how-to” sites take the FAQs idea in a somewhat different direction by addressing subjects that aren’t necessarily related to discussion forums(论坛). These sites take the style of a written tutorial (teaching period) and a tone of friendly advice. Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn2. com (www. learn2. com). It offers nearly 1000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently for a job interview.

At ehow. com (www. ehow. com) you can learn how to train for your first marathon,  how to buy a vacation home,  or how to make a movie in eight steps.

1. The purpose of writing the passage is to ________________.

A. introduce new websites to people

B. teach how to take new courses by Internet

C. present new means to learn something you want to know

D. help you to solve any difficulty you meet with

2. “How-to” sites are set up to ________________.

A. explain FAQs to the public

B. help people to learn what they want to

C. tell the difference from discussion forums

D. complete the growing world of online learning

3. The underlined word “novices” in the passage probably means ________________.

A. experts who know a lot　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 

B. hosts of “how-to” sites

C. people without knowledge　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  

D. beginners of “how-to” sites

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ________________.

A. “how-to” sites are specially designed for the disabled

B. people can teach themselves at home by visiting “how-to” sites

C. it is pleasant to listen to the advice on “how-to” sites

D. you can just click your mouse at home to question anything

5. According to the text, if you want to buy a tent for camping you may ________________.

A. visit www. ehow. com　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  

B. visit www. learn2. com

C. visit the discussion forums　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

D. visit the FAQs

When a Japanese friend of mine first visited Britain and first saw a British map of the world, he was very upset by what he found. At first the picture seemed familiar: in the middle of the map, there were two or three small but long red islands lying between an ocean and a continent. But something was wrong: landmass and ocean had changed places. It wasn’t Japan he was looking at; it was the British small islands. Japan was out on the edge somewhere.

Until that moment all the maps he had known had located(标出位置)Japan in the middle of the picture and had colored it red; yet when he got to British, he found that the country in the middle of the map was Britain and that it, too, was painted red.

What my friend had found was a displacement(移换位置)of his country, and, therefore, of himself as well. That is to say, his country was not longer in its familiar place and he no longer knew where he stood: he was “disoriented”.

Our sense of ourselves and our place in the world may not, as my friend’s experience suggests, come from anything real or actual, for no country is in the middle of the globe, except as a picture in the mind. A map is only a model in which we may locate ourselves; it just helps us to feel that we know where we are.

1. When the man in this story saw a British map of the world, he found himself ________________.

A. uneasy　　　　　　　　　　 B. comfortable　　　　　　　　　　 C. disappointed　　　　　　 D. encouraged

2. On a British map of the world, ________________.

A. Japan is painted red　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. Japan is located in the middle

C. Japan is located at one side　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. Japan does not appear at all

3. “To be disoriented” means to lose________________.

A. one’s heart　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. control

C. one’s interest　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. one’s sense of position

4. No country is in the middle of the globe________________.

A. in fact　　　　　　   B. in places　　　　　　　　   C. in maps　　　　　　　　    D. in pictures

5. The main idea of this passage is that________________.

A. human beings need maps in order to find the middle of the globe

B. Japanese visitors to British find that local maps give them a sense of displacement

C. our sense of location based on familiar maps often helps us to travel from place to place

D. familiar maps give to those who use them an imaginary but comforting sense of location(位置)